The Pavilion at The Nest
The Pavilion at the Nest, a certified outdoor classroom in Fairhope, integrates architecture and landscape into a living laboratory for environmental education.
The Pavilion and landscape are the first phase of a master plan to expand an award-winning marine science laboratory for K-3 students into an educational enrichment campus for K-12 students, summer camps, professional education around project-based learning, and fundraising events for the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation. (Learn more about the Master Plan here.)
A key project goal is provide memorable educational experience in nature, in order to help students connect the dots between the health of Mobile Bay ecosystems and the upstream buildings and landscapes in their communities.
This cistern, at the northeast corner of the pavilion, includes a hand pump to engage students. The cistern overflows into a demonstration frog and toad habitat planted with wetland species.
The Pavilion is first and foremost a shade structure for outdoor education. The double roof design and ventilated walls maintain cool temperatures in the restrooms, even in the heat of a Gulf Coast summer. The outer roof also acts as a water collection surface, directing rainwater to 2 cisterns, a rain garden, a frog and toad habitat, and a bioswale. Toilets are flushed with rainwater, saving water and energy. Greywater is filtered through oyster shell and sand then treated by microbes in the landscape.
Signage at each learning station identifies native plant species and uses QR codes to link to curriculum resources.
The gabion planters that step down the west side of the pavilion to the existing science lab incorporate pieces of structural terracotta blocks, locally known as “clay city tile”. The building material was ubiquitous in early Fairhope buildings but is quickly becoming lost to history.
The Pavilion’s structure utilizes a similar vocabulary of steel and masonry to the existing marine science lab and four classrooms next slated for revitalization. Cypress and pine are introduced as a biophilic counterpoint. Wood screens wrap the CMU restroom enclosures and enclose cisterns. The planks also create ventilated enclosures for seine nets and other field equipment used by students. Wood cladding provides sound dampening under both roofs. The wood adds character, texture, and a visible connection to local ecosystems.
The Pavilion bridges the existing successful marine science center and planned revitalization efforts to create a center for Education, Innovation and the Arts in the Center of downtown Fairhope.
After a tornado damaged a gable end wall of a historic structure on campus, students picked through the rubble and salvaged the unique building material. The clay city tile was integrated into the gabion walls to celebrate native building materials along with native plants.
Project type: civic/educational new construction
Location: Fairhope, AL
Key team: Witherington Construction, Sherer Consulting Engineers, Dell Consulting, Thompson Engineering, Father Nature Landscapes, RMS Rainwater Management Solutions
Certification: Alabama Wildlife Federation Certified Outdoor Classroom
Climate responsive design elements include:
Deep overhangs and a low eave on the south face of the roof maximizes shade
Pavilion roof shades restroom roofs underneath, eliminating direct solar heat gain
Open gable ends and ceiling fans maximize air flow inside the pavilion
Thermal mass of concrete block walls and concrete slab regulate temperatures
Fans in restrooms pull air through a pattern of blocks laid with open cells facing out
Ventilation openings through CMU are protected by screen wall
Rain harvested from roof for use in restrooms and landscape
Take a closer look at the site plan:
The Pavilion at the Nest, a Certified Outdoor Classroom
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